NRA Pistol Instruction
Offered by Keith Manne
 NRA Certified Pistol Instructor
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Disclaimer: What follows is solely the conclusions of MY own research and evaluation, and/or my OPINIONS. There are plenty of happy Glock owners out there, so don't neccessarily take my word as gospel, and if you work for Glock, don't sue me for my views on possibly endangering your buyers.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly about Glock...
I get asked a lot "why I hate Glocks so much." Actually, I don't hate them -- I just would never own one. I think the company has made some bad decisions in their design and worse in their marketing, but there are certainly much worse guns out there.

Here's what I like, what I hate, what scares me, and what I think:

Good:
G1> Fairly Reliable : Glocks are fairly reliable with factory FMJ ammo (the Glock-demanded diet). There are much more reliable guns at or below the same pricerange, assuming normal cleaning care.

G2> Fairly Accurate : Glocks are pretty accurate (at least when shot out of a vise). There are much more accurate guns well below the same pricerange.

G3> Torturable : Glock is proud that you can still usually fire the gun fairly filthy, and almost completely unlubricated. This is because Glocks were designed largely for cops, who are not known for their careful treatment of their guns. As with military guns, the loose tolerances required to achieve such torture-tolerance negatively affects accuracy. To me, being torturable is not a requirement, but I note it here in case it is to you.
Bad:
B1> Dangerous Marketing : Glock claims to be DAO (Double Action Only) and is in fact closer to SINGLE action. Not a problem if you know that, but could be a serious problem if you don't.
See this page for why Glocks are *NOT* DAO, and why it matters.

B2> VERY Dangerous Design: Glocks don't fully support the case during firing, most notably on their 40SW guns -- supporting the case full-length is important because the brass is NOT meant to contain the pressure of firing the shot by itself -- it's a carrier for the powder, not a pressure vessel. Glock counts on the strength of the case to be "good enough" at least for one firing of standard pressure ammo. They seem to get away with it most of the time, with catastrophic exceptions. Glock's 40SW guns are pretty well known as hand-grenades with anything but UNDER-loaded rounds (in short, in a rush to market, Glock based their 40SW too tightly on their 9MM, and the result really CAN'T handle the extra pressure). Glock strongly recommends that you don't use reloaded ammo, and I think this is a big part of that -- ultimately, reloading weakens the brass by stretch/sizing cycles, and due to Glock's design, you may be staking your life on that weak brass. Also, if the reloader makes a moderate mistake that causes overpressure (eg. loading even slightly too much powder or overcrimping, both fairly common among beginning/high-speed reloaders), Glocks won't forgive that mistake as well as other guns. This writer himself once made a DOUBLE load 45ACP and my HK USP handled it without incident beyond belching fire 20 feet. I doubt Glock could have handled such a SERIOUS mistake that gracefully.

See my "Glock vs. Steyr M-Series" page for a fuller explanation of "unsupported chambers", as well as to read what a good striker-fire CAN be.

Not for me:
N1> No lead? Strange and Expensive: Supposedly due to the polygonal rifling, Glock demands FMJ ammo only (which can be up to 2X the price, and IS harder to clean). I note that H&K also has polygonal rifling, and doesn't prohibit lead. I'm not sure why they demand FMJ, but I'm told it voids the warrantee if you shoot NORMAL all-lead ammo. I suspect that demanding FMJ lowers the risk of overpressure explosions due to (?) somewhat more precise bullet size and greater likelihood that FMJ won't be reloaded ammo, but I'm not sure how valid those presumptions are.

Why do I like lead? While lead DOES "lead foul" (smear) the barrel more, exacting an accuracy penalty if you don't clean your gun reasonably often, lead also dissolves much easier and comes out with less scrubbing when you do clean. Plain lead is also softer and therefore kinder to the rifling long-term. If you don't shoot very much, barrel wear, harder cleaning, and higher cost may not matter as much to you. I shoot 99.9% plain lead in my guns (cycling through old defensive ammo is the only exception -- probably 50 rounds/year out of 20-30,000 or so rounds I shoot annually).

N2> Mediocre Trigger : Glock has a bad trigger feel, in my opinion. Too stiff for SA, and just weird for DA. Of course, Glock is actually neither (it's technically "striker fire"), but compared to another striker-fire such as Steyr's M-series, I still don't like it. Glock owners tell me they got used to Glock's trigger feel, and in all fairness you can get used to any trigger you use regularly.

N3> Anti-Ergonomic Grips : Glock has a horrible hand feel, purely in my opinion. Big and square doesn't fit my hands at all. I shoot mostly larger-frame guns, and it's not the big as much as the square that bugs me. If you can't get a comfortable grip in realworld hands, you can't shoot worth beans no matter how good the gun would shoot out of a vise. Again referencing the Steyr as the closest functional cousin to Glock, Steyr probably has the BEST hand feel I've seen in stock guns.

N4> Poor Sights : Glocks factory "i" sights could be a lot better in my opinion. Most people I know change them aftermarket, which is just a pain. Steyr has weird (triangular) sights, but there's a good visual reason for theirs. Again in all fairness, some people like Glock's sights, but I've known more that hated them.
N5> No Manual Safety : Glocks have a few passive safeties, but no manual "toggle" safety. I'd rather have a manual safety and not need it than not have one and want it. As always, don't count on ANY mechanical safety when there is a safer way.

Summary: There are better guns across the board, in my opinion. If you like striker-fire guns, Steyr M-series whips Glock up and down the block.